THE CITY AND THE SAGE

The thirteenth and twentieth centuries are two distinct centuries of the last millennium that have greatly influenced human history - centuries of wars, famines and shifting geographies. Alongside all these abominations, they are also distinguished by the scientists and sages they contributed to human history. Jalal ad-Din Rumi is one such sage, a Sufi raised in the thirteenth century, whose importance cannot be disputed from his century to our own. However, those who have told us about him since the days he was alive have all related their own versions of Rumi. The sage, who put his entire thought and identity on full display in Fih-i Ma Fih and Majalis al-Saba, has come down to us in terms of analyses of the images in his poems. He has been described only in terms of what he produced in the last decade of his 66-year lifespan. Scarcely any mention has been made of the land he was born in, his family or its roots. In this work, our goal has been to seek out the roots fromwhich Rumi drew nourishment.